Men's Water Polo Outlasts George Washington In North-South Challenge Finale

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Harvard men's water polo team used a fourth-quarter run to outlast George Washington, 15-13, in the fifth-place game of the North-South Challenge at Blodgett Pool Sunday morning.

Harvard (5-5) scored four of the first five goals in the final period to break open a tie game and go 2-1 on the weekend. The Colonials fell to 5-6 on the year after going 1-2 in the tournament.

Ben Zepfel and Blake Lee each tallied four goals to pace the offense, while Lee also contributed three assists. Will Roller and Noah Harrison both found the back of the net twice, and Evan Ramsey added three assists.

In the first half, the two teams went back and forth as the Crimson and Colonials entered the break tied at six. Each team struck for four goals in the third frame to enter the final period deadlocked at 10.

Zepfel gave the Crimson the lead with a goal with 7:46 left in the fourth; however, the Colonials responded just over a minute later to tie the game again.

Harvard then drew two ejections in under 30 seconds and capitalized on both with goals by Roller and Harrison to stretch the lead to two. Robbie Fluegge further padded the advantage with an insurance goal with 3:30 remaining in the game to put the contest out of reach.

On the defensive side, Evan Ramsey and Lee recorded four steals apiece, and Colin Woolway stopped 12 shots in goal.